What supplies do you need to make herbal products?

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Fortunately for the home herbalist, most of the supplies needed for medicine making are likely in your kitchen. In addition to the herbs themselves, here’s a list of what is helpful to have on hand:

Basic supplies
–Recycled glass jars or mason jars in a variety of sizes (4 oz, 8oz , 16 oz, 32 oz)
-Teaspoons of various sizes
-Measuring cup(s)
-Cheesecloth (or something similar for straining)
-Metal mesh strainers
-Old towels/rags that can be used for cleaning
-Sharpee (or similar) pens for writing on jars (you can also use stickers)
-I also like to have organic olive oil and vodka on hand for spontaneous herbal oil infusions or tincture making.

See? Pretty simple! Here are a few more tips for salves, creams, and lotions.

Extra things for making salves:
-A scale (to weigh beeswax and other optional ingredients, like zinc oxide for sun protection)
Metal bowl or glass measuring cup with spout (something that can withstand heat)
-A designated double-boiler (or other pot) just for melting wax. Melted wax can be really difficult to clean out, so you won’t want to cook food in it afterwards.

Extra things for making creams and lotions:
-A glass blender or immersion blender
-A scale (to weigh beeswax and other optional ingredients, like zinc oxide for sun protection)
-Rubbing alcohol (or vodka) to do final clean up on jars or other kitchen supplies
-A designated double-boiler (or other pot) just for melting wax. Melted wax can be really difficult to clean out, so you won’t want to cook food in it afterwards.
-An apron

I think my all time favorite kitchen supply for herbal making are my metal bowls with a pour spout. I can whip body butter in them, I can use them to pour salves (and easily heat them up if the salve starts to harden before it all gets poured out), they clean up easily, and they don’t shatter and break! What are some of your favorite kitchen supplies for medicine making? I’d love to hear!